Face of Defense: Soldier Trains for Olympic 'Evil Race'

Photo By Tim Hipps | U.S. Army World Class Athlete Program runner Capt. Kelly Calway of Fort Carson, Colo., finishes second among women in the 2010 Army 10-Miler with a time of 57 minutes, 10 seconds on Oct. 24 at the Pentagon. (U.S. Army photo by Tim Hipps)
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ALEXANDRIA, VA, UNITED STATES

12.10.2010

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - For Army Capt. Kelly Calway, just finding time to go for a run can be a challenge. But Calway makes it happen, juggling her passion for distance running with being a soldier, wife and mother.

Calway's commitment paid off when she earned a berth in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathon Team Trials with a fifth-place finish at the California International Marathon Dec. 5 in Sacramento, as part of the Army's World Class Athlete Program.

Calway's time of 2 hours, 42 minutes, 19 seconds met the "B" qualification standard for the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Marathon, scheduled for Jan. 14, 2012, in Houston, the first U.S. city scheduled to host both the men's and women's Olympic Trials for Marathon.

Calway, 26, of Fort Carson, Colo., began training with Army WCAP distance runners in August with her sights set on competing at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.

"It's everything I dreamed of and more," she said of joining WCAP. "It's awesome. It gives me time to train, get coached, and do everything right."

Calway, a former cross country and 1,500-meter runner on the track for North Carolina State University, finished second among women at the 2010 Army 10-Miler with a personal-best time of 57:20 on Oct. 24. That was nearly three minutes faster than her Army 10-Miler time of the previous year -- just after returning from a six-month deployment in Iraq.

"Every time I'm out here running, especially with Army on my chest, I'm running for way more than myself," Calway said. "I'm running for all those soldiers overseas and all of the wounded guys who are coming home. To be out here representing the Army is awesome."

Her mission now is to concentrate on marathon training.

"I love the marathon," Calway said. "It's an evil, evil race. You really have to reach down into your guts and find what you're out there for."

At the California International Marathon, Calway reached down and knocked 17 minutes off her previous best time for 26.2 miles -- a 2:59 clocking at Boston in 2009.

At the Pentagon, she dedicated her Army 10-Miler runner-up finish to Marine Corps 1st Lt. James Byler, who was wounded a week earlier by an improvised explosive device in Iraq.

With her husband, Capt. Chris Calway, still deployed in Afghanistan, and 3-year-old daughter, Hazel, to care for, Kelly feels fortunate to find time to run.

"Juggling being a soldier in the Army, a mom, a wife and all that, it's hard to get my training in," she said. "But I'm able to do everything that I need to do and do everything right. I'm able to eat right, sleep right, get my training in, and rest when I need to. Go Army!"